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BLCA c24s03
Text Darkness. Everywhere. She looked back and forth, but she couldn't make anything out as she tried to walk forwards... but it was hard to walk with nothing at all around her. Nothing to touch, no sensations, no feelings... She shook her head. She didn't know who she was. It was there, but it was unspeakable, unthinkable... and she shivered before looking slowly up as light shimmered over her features. Gorgeous light, shining down from a beautiful sky, a forest trail ahead of her leading to a pair of open gates, and she could see ponies she knew were her parents, smiling at her, beckoning to her, the stallion's voice calling warmly: "Come on, before it's too late! Hurry, daughter, hurry!" "We missed you so much... come on, Twilight... we love you. Come on now! Come see us... there's so much catching up to do, so much to talk about, you can be at peace now..." the unicorn mare added lovingly, raising her own hoof, and Twilight smiled, feeling her mind lighting up at her name, beginning to start forwards... And the image flickered out like it had never been there as instead she tripped and fell, plummeting into darkness, then shrieking in surprise as meteors of flame ripped past her, singeing her, making her ache before her blood froze in her veins as she realized they were made from corpses and bones. Ponies, Nibelung, other creatures, falling like burning stars mashed together from the remains of the dead, some of them still screaming as she flailed her limbs, spread her wings, but it was like she couldn't catch the air... like there was no air to catch as beneath her, terrible, gaping jaws opened, swallowing her up. She was in a throat of ice and spikes and rock, bursts of fire and magma seething out of wounds in the mutant terrain, staring back and forth before she gasped as she fell out of the tunnel and into a wide, awful cavern, her descent slowing as she stared at the sight of a terrible giantess. A goddess, wearing the rags of an ancient dress, curled up like a child in her mighty throne, haggard and scheming upon a platform of ice surrounded by a moat of magma. Goddess Hel, ever-paranoid, ever-watchful, ever-waiting, deep and hidden beneath the layers of Helheim, staring wistfully up at the worlds above but too scared of her own fetid domain to ever step foot outside this bubble, this dark cave that lurked beneath reality... And then Twilight looked down, and she shrieked as she realized she was about to hit the earth before her eyes clenched shut and her whole body bucked convulsively... only to feel something catch her, hold her in place, her head bobbing stupidly as her eyes blinked rapidly, and a voice said gently: "It's okay." Slowly, Twilight's eyes opened... and she shivered as she realized she was laying in the library on top of a white sheet, a second covering her body... but stained heavily with blood and ichors. She swallowed slowly, then let her head roll to the side and trembled at the sight of a large needle and thick black string, before a claw reached down and soothingly stroked through her mane... and at that simple touch, Twilight's shivers halted, a warmth spilling through her strangely-numb, strangely-rigid body before she slowly looked up. Scrivener Blooms and Luna were both sitting at a table, smiling kindly down at her, books pushed aside and what looked like a large plate holding something on it between them. Twilight frowned, rolling over as she studied the two and grimaced: both splattered here and there with crimson stains, but the sight barely fazed her as she whispered: "Getting too used to seeing you like this, but... what..." As she stood slowly up, her eyes locked on the plate... and she realized that the shape on it was a large heart. And worse yet, still throbbed slowly and visibly. It made Twilight feel a little ill, shivering a bit before Scrivener said quietly: "Luna and I want to give you one last chance to back out. Eternity is a long time... so you can choose to have this back if you want." Twilight frowned slowly... and then she paled, reaching up to touch her chest... and shivering as she felt the edge of a wound, of what felt like a hole despite there being no pain more than a faint burning sensation she was barely aware of. She could feel the same sensation here and there over her body, and she stared down at a forelimb... then moaned in shock as she saw a red, ugly cut that was sealed tightly by black stitching, Luna saying softly: "The transformation put stress upon thy body. We had to... make repairs." Twilight shivered, reaching a hoof up and touching her face, feeling out a line of stitching that went from her forehead, down between her eyes, and then across one cheek as she whispered: "Oh g-god... what... what have you done to me..." "In time, because that depends on your choice." Scrivener said softly, and Twilight snarled at him, but the male only smiled slightly as he reached up and rested a claw on the heart... Twilight's heart, and she twitched as she realized she could actually... feel it. Feel his grip, as he said quietly again: "If you turn back now, you'll... hurt, but you'll be the same Twilight. But if you give it to Luna and I... you'll be with us forever. You'll never, ever have to worry about not being valuable to us again... you'll never have to deal with doubts, or fears about that." "I..." Twilight shivered, staring at her heart, watching it beat... and then she looked slowly between the two before laughing weakly, whispering: "Like I have a choice. And even if I did... Luna, Scrivener... it's... I need to be with you both. I already said that... I still mean that and know that. But god, what... what did you do to me..." Luna, however, only smiled calmly as she glanced towards the heart with a tilt of her horn, and Twilight winced as it split in half, before she stared in shock as Luna picked up one side and Scrivener the other. The two looked at each other as Twilight could only watch, then they leaned forwards, and Scrivener's jaws opened as Luna's did the same, and Twilight whimpered before clenching her eyes shut and turning her head away, but it wasn't enough to drown out the sound of teeth crushing into meat, or the feeling that ripped through her body. She shivered and gagged, trembling hard before slowly opening her eyes in the silence that followed... and then she stared as Scrivener quietly slipped out of his seat as he picked up another object from the table and held it up, looking into Twilight's eyes and saying quietly: "We want you to have this. It's not much... but... well, you know." Twilight swallowed slowly, looking at the silver orb in Scrivener's claw, roughly the size her heart had been and covered in complex runes that were lit by ever-flowing crimson and black fluid twisting through it. For a few moments, she could only stare... and then she trembled a bit, not looking down as Scrivener smiled and leaned forwards, sliding this object into the opening in her chest as he explained quietly: "Luna had a Nightmare bring it to us at the last minute. It's... really nothing amazing, just a fancy locator. You put someone's blood in there and you can always find them by holding it, so... we put our blood in there for you. So you... always have us in your heart." Twilight laughed weakly despite herself as Scrivener stepped back, and then the purple mare stared slowly back and forth before she gritted her teeth as Luna's horn glowed and the dark-coated winged unicorn leaned forwards, the wound in Twilight's chest closing as bones crackled quietly. She looked weakly down at this, at the injury that remained behind... but Luna only smiled, and with a flick of her horn, the needle and threat floated into the air and Luna began to neatly sew the wound closed, explaining gently: "I know thou has many questions for us, Twilight Sparkle. I know we probably should have told thee our plans, but... the heat of the moment, and thou... we wanted to make thee strong. We... were overeager to make thee part of us, forever... because now thou art, as we are part of thee." "What am I?" Twilight whispered again, looking back and forth... but her emotions felt muted, and strangely... she did feel strong. She did feel pleasure, even as Luna knitted her wound closed like she was a doll and not a living being, and there was no longer any panic, any fear, her need to know becoming more and more like curiosity instead of urgency. "I feel..." "In simple terms, we have made thee into a Lich." Luna replied with a strange pride in her voice, and Twilight's eyes widened in shock that cut clearly through her numbness as Scrivener smiled and rose a claw, squeezing the now undead-pony's shoulder gently. "A powerful mistress of the undead, kept alive by magic... and while most are kept tied to the world by a phylactery, we have... improvised something else." Luna and Scrivener both smiled warmly... and Twilight's eyes widened before she whispered: "My heart... you... Luna, you put my life essence into my heart, but then you two..." "We divided it between ourselves. We consumed it, and made it part of us. Therefore, thou art part of us, thy soul tied to us, to our existence... so as long as we exist, so will thee. Yes, my beloved Twilight, it also gives us control over thee, but... we love thee. We would never force thee to do anything for us..." Luna continued affectionately, stepping forwards and hugging her tightly, and Twilight blushed even as she shivered a little. "Thou art ours. Forever, now. For forever and a day." "And you're still beautiful. Stitches and all." Scrivener added softly, reaching up and stroking her face slowly... and Twilight realized she could feel their emotions clearly. Could even hear the whispers of their thoughts this close. She knew she should be horrified, and yet she couldn't compel herself to feel anything less than gladness for what had happened... couldn't help but smile slowly in return as she felt that same trust from before spilling through her, felt only a thirst to learn more about how they had performed such a... a... miracle... "Yes... I feel you both. I understand you both, I... I mean, I know I should be upset and mad, but..." Twilight turned away, pacing slowly with a frown, shaking her head out quickly as her dark mane and tail almost floated before she flapped her wings once and looked over her shoulder, smiling faintly as her eyes flashed. "But you... you made me part of you both. You made it so we'll always be together, and I asked for this. I did ask for this and... and now who could ever doubt my love for you? That our love is strange, but it is true. It is real. I am yours... I am yours completely." "You are." Scrivener smiled slightly, and Twilight nodded firmly once before the male added quietly: "But you know, we won't blame you if you're angry with us, Twilight Sparkle." "No. No, that... that's how the old Twilight would have thought. She would have been... ashamed of herself for 'giving in,' and she would have put the blame on you when I chose this. Hell, you told me you were going to kill me, and I let you! How could I blame you when I subjected myself to that? I... I do trust you. I trust you both." Twilight retorted sharply, and Luna and Scrivener both looked surprised before the violet mare blushed a bit and looked down almost embarrassedly, reaching up to touch her forehead. "I... I mean... wow. That came... I'm sorry. I just feel so... so confident. I feel so strong and different instead of meek and needing to please... and I feel like... I don't know... like I've been reborn." She blushed a bit, glancing up before she smiled wider and added slowly: "And I... I think I need a new name. I'm a new pony now. A different pony. A strong, confident pony, not somepony who lets herself get shoved around by everyone else, trying to be nice, trying to make friends with everyone when I already have everything I need in this world. Sparkle... I don't want to sparkle, like a pretty, useless thing. I am between the worlds... I balance darkness and light, like... shadow. I... I am Twilight Shadow. Yes..." She licked her lips slowly, then grimaced a bit in surprise as a tooth nicked her tongue, opening her jaws as if to try and peer down at her larger, sharper teeth, but Scrivener only grinned approvingly as Luna laughed and nodded, leaning forwards and saying warmly: "Yes! That is excellent, Twilight... our beautiful Twilight Shadow! I adore this... truly, look at thou blossoming, look at this transformation! It is glorious, beautiful, perfect... yes... Twilight Shadow. Our Twilight Shadow. Come, we shall celebrate." "Yes, I'd like that." Twilight grinned widely, her own eyes flashing with blue light before she let out a long exhale... and then frowned in surprise as blue mist sizzled out of her own jaws, leaning backwards a bit as Scrivener chuckled quietly and Luna smiled radiantly. "What... I can..." "We infused you with my blood and my breath. Your lungs are probably still filled with the mist..." Scrivener Blooms paused meditatively as he studied her thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could fill you up like a balloon and make you breathe on people for me." Twilight only gave him a grouchy look at this, shaking her head slowly before she self-consciously reached up to rub at the Y-shaped stitching across her chest, looking awkwardly down at herself. She could feel the burning sensation receding... and Luna smiled a little, explaining quietly before she could even ask: "Worry not, beloved Twilight. Thy wounds will heal, but... with what thou art now, thy body needs a little aid in remembering what to do. Flesh will graft to flesh in time, but it will not... grow back quite as readily. Thou must use magic to heal thy wounds and secure larger injuries with stitching to ensure they close properly... but it may please thee to know that like the Velites, should thou lose a larger body part... thou may take a new one from a suitable donor, stitch and graft it to thy body, and in time it will transform to match the rest of thee as if thou had never lost the body part in the first place." "Great. I'm sure Discombobulation will appreciate not being the only patchwork doll anymore." Twilight muttered, looking almost apprehensively down at a hoof... but then she simply shook her head and smiled, finding it easier than it had ever been before to simply push the thoughts away as she gazed up between Scrivener Blooms and Luna. "But you know what? I can figure all this out later. For now... well... I want to see how close to alive instead of undead I really am." "I like you." Scrivener said simply, and Twilight Shadow threw her head back and laughed before she strode forwards with a wide grin, her eyes glowing as she felt the last of her old self slipping away... and instead she firmly moved to embrace the future, joining the two without regrets into the descent into darkness. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story